Here I go again on my own...kind of. A June 2019 Solo-ish Trip Report *Updated 7/16/2020

xlsm

Snow White
Joined
Oct 19, 2013
Gooood morning Disney Friends!!

I've been back for six days so I guess it's time to get this XLSM trip report party started!!

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The PTR for this trip can be found HERE

If you followed along with it (it's actually a double ptr for this trip and one coming up in September), you know that originally this was NOT supposed to be a (mostly) solo trip. DH was supposed to be coming with me, and we had all kinds of fun things planned. Then, my MIL, who was supposed to stay at the house with the kids and dogs, cancelled on us last minute. Our backup kid/dog/house watchers already had plans, so DH stayed home and I went by myself. In a bit of good luck, @Raeven was able to join me for the last couple of days so I had some company at the end of the trip.

That's fascinating xlsm, but I don't even know who YOU are yet!!

Ah, that's a good point. I'm the "S" of xlsm, mom to the X and L, wife of the M. We're a Disney loving family thanks to my obsession. I've drawn them all into my web of characters, castles, and general festivity!

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This is probably the most "me" photo I've ever taken. No no filter or makeup except for some stray eye liner...this just proves that lighting is EVERYTHING. It's probably my favorite picture of me, even though I look tired.
(I've reached my Flickr limit, so the first few posts will be a combo of Flickr and Google shared pictures, so please bear with me if the sizing is off or it looks weird until I figure it out...I've never shared with Google before, and the board updates messed with my normal Flickr sharing a bit)

I love all things cute and cuddly, and have a hard time saying no to plush or like, mini figures and stuff. I also collect pins and have a thing for blind bags. And if Jerrod Maruyama does artwork for something, chances are I need to have it!!

I usually skip the My Favorites section that so many people add to their TRs, because I'm really indecisive and everything is my favorite at some point or another, but since it's been awhile, I'll see if I can narrow things down!

Favorite Park: Animal Kingdom (but MK is the park I want to visit most often - it's home!)

Favorite Character: To meet - Chip and Dale!! In general?? Yeah, no way to narrow that down at all, sorry!

Favorite Resort: Wilderness Lodge (runners up are Polynesian and Animal Kingdom Lodge - for future family trips, I've given in to the fact that the Poly will probably be the go to from now on)

Favorite Snack: I mean, I love a Dole Whip. But Kaki Gori from Japan might be the true favorite. I don't think I've ever gone on a trip without getting one

Favorite Table Service: Probably Skipper's Canteen?? Or Sci Fi (for the atmosphere) We try not to repeat much, but those are frequently visited spots

Favorite QS: Tangierine Cafe in Morocco or Satuli Canteen

Favorite Princess: Snow White, Tiana, Anna...choosing is hard.

Favorite Ride(s): Overall, probably Tower of Terror. If we go by park, right now at DHS it's probably Slinky Dog Dash (since Tower is the Ultimate Favorite, I feel like I can go into subgroups, LOL!!). MK is harder, it's a toss up between Haunted Mansion, Pirates, and Splash Mountain. AK is the safari, and Epcot is probably Soarin' or Spaceship Earth.

Ok, this feels like it's getting boring, let's move on!!

So, since this is being called a solo-ISH trip, who was my trip buddy?? That's Raeven!

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We met here on the Dis a couple of years ago, and talk pretty much every day. We also have a full trip planned together for September split between Universal (my first Horror Nights!) and Disney.


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Ok, we feel like we know you better now! So where'd you stay and how long, and all that good stuff??

It was a week long trip. I was supposed to fly in on June 8, but as you'll read in the travel day post, that didn't quite work. I did fly on the 8th, but I sure didn't make it to Orlando that day! I flew home on June 16 (and thankfully that travel day was MUCH better).

My home for the week was the Yacht Club, my first time staying at that resort. I had stayed in the area once before on a family trip in December 2016 at the Boardwalk. I liked the YC, but I don't think I'm an Epcot area resort person. I think we're just MK resort people. (although I don't mind AKL except for the bus only transportation)


Why should we stick around??

Hang out with me and read along if you want to hear about a travel nightmare (which sadly seems to be a common occurrence for me), two Yacht Club rooms, character meets, DHS After Hours, MK Villains After Hours, and my second attempt at a solo WDW visit!!

I hope you will all follow along with my adventures...welcome to the xlsm family!!

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First one! I remember your first solo trip and I am excited to follow along on your latest journey. Hope you had a great time!
 
Following along! :wave2: I’m going to try to finish my Cali one and then start mine this weekend!
 


I'm excited to hear about your trip!

(And a big YUCK on your travel day! :crazy2: )
 
First one! I remember your first solo trip and I am excited to follow along on your latest journey. Hope you had a great time!

Yay! Welcome back!! It was a good trip. I was in a bad headspace before going, because I was REALLY sad my original plans with DH didn't happen, but once I was there I think I handled being by myself a little better this time.

Following along! :wave2: I’m going to try to finish my Cali one and then start mine this weekend!

Woohoo!! :dogdance: :dogdance:
I feel like I stayed away long enough, and if I didn't start now, I might not ever. We had too much fun to not share it with the world, LOL!! Even if the world is not ready for our brand of fun :rotfl::rotfl:

I am here and ready to hear all about the trip!

I'm so happy you're here!! I thought of the girls when we left Space Mountain and I saw the metal ball pit, lol!! I wanted to jump in, too!

I'm excited to hear about your trip!

(And a big YUCK on your travel day! :crazy2: )


Oy, the travel day :sad2: At least I now feel like I can handle any issue like this that comes up again. So I'm going to call it another life lesson (but I hated every second of it!!!!!!!)

I'm glad you're here to read along. It gets waaay better after travel day!!
 


Hi @xlsm! :wave: I'm here! Looking forward to hearing about your trip! Though I'm not sure I'm looking forward to your first travel day post...what a nightmare it must have been! :scared1:
 
Time to dive in, yay!!

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TGIF! Normally Fridays in summer aren't all that different from regular days in summer, but tonight is exciting because we're going to see Trevor Noah!!

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L (my youngest kiddo, he's almost 14) and I are probably the most excited.

Last night we all went to see Toy Story 4, and all of us really enjoyed it. I loved Forky (thank goodness, I went all in on the Forky love pre-movie!) and Bunny/Ducky (OMG, they were hilarious). I think it feels like a standalone movie from the previous three, and that's ok!! It was thoroughly entertaining.

I mentioned my love of blind bags in the intro, and yesterday morning I impulse bought two TS4 themed ones at Walgreens:

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I was hoping for Forky...

I ended up with Benson:

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Annnnd....

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FORKYYYYY!! I was so excited, lol!!

Enough everyday-ness I guess, and if I'm being honest, pure avoidance of writing about travel day number one, I should just get it overwith.

Here is...


Chapter One: On the road again. For a little while.

(Figuring out the new font sizes after the update might be a learning curve. I hope this is big enough!!)

My flight was scheduled to leave at 3:30pm, and the airport I was leaving from was a little over an hour from the house. It's a tiny airport with only two terminals, so I wasn't worried about getting there too early, but still felt I needed to leave at a decent time in case something came up on the drive. I wanted to give myself a cushion.

BUT, first things first, I had to just chill out with one of my dogs for awhile. She knew something was up, and was giving me sad face


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I was able to do a little bit of last minute shopping and we all had lunch together before I started making my way to the airport. Pictures will not be plentiful right off the bat, so I apologize for some text heavy moments!!

I started the drive, which was pretty uneventful, until I was about ten/fifteen minutes from the airport.

I got the dreaded alert. Flight Delayed.

By three hours.

No.

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After some initial panic ( I was driving on a busy highway and had nowhere safe to turn off before my exit, and knew i needed to address this asap), I called DH and he was able to start fixing things while I got somewhere that I could do anything myself.

I took my exit, drove through town and pulled in to a gas station parking lot near the airport to figure things out.

DH called back, and we figured out my new plan. I was now scheduled for a later flight leaving Atlanta, and the MCO Hyatt had been notified that I'd be arriving several hours later than planned (close to 1:00am instead of 10pm)

I killed time by driving around town and slowly wandering through the local walmart. There's not much interesting there, and I didn't want to drive into the historic downtown area on a Saturday afternoon because I knew it would be busy (and the town had been hard hit by devastating flooding, part of it was closed to non-residents. At this point I wasn't sure what parts of town were off limits and which ones were ok)

Anyway...eventually I got bored and just decided to go to the airport.

There's a cute little fountain out front:

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It was such a pretty day...I was lulled into a false sense of security. I didn't realize the full scale of the weather problems in Georgia and Florida at the time. It would end up causing problems with travel across the country all week. (DH's co-worker was stuck b/c of storms in Dallas, and ended up flying all over the place just trying to get to Arizona)

I dealt with my airport boredom by reading for awhile. Because the airport is small, they only open security in little bursts. So once it opened again, I went on through, but was stopped for additional screening b/c apparently I paused while going through the metal detector? This happens to me pretty often (the random check, not me pausing in a metal detector, lol), so no big deal.

When I was sitting in the area near the gate waiting to board, there was a guy across from me watching YouTube videos without headphones. It was very annoying.

Anyway, blahblahblah, I sat there and eventually it was time to board and fly to Atlanta. It's a short flight, so we made it to ATL pretty quickly.

When we landed I was so excited to see what gate our plane had stopped in - there was a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf right across from it. I was all hyped about that, b/c it's my favorite, and I only get it in California or at the Atlanta airport. I had an hour and a half before my next flight would board, so I was over my worry and was feeling pretty happy.

I got off the plane and in line

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And that's when all happiness ended.

I got an alert that my next flight had been CANCELLED.

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

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I immediately checked my Delta app to see what flight I'd been rebooked on, and it was one set to leave at 7:38PM the NEXT NIGHT.

Double, EXTRA nooooooooo!!!!

I was texting DH throughout the mess, and he was trying to change that flight while I was trying to deal with what I could at the airport itself. He was trying to get me on a flight that would leave around midnight. Unfortunately, that fell through, and the best we could do was hope for an earlier flight the next morning.

So, after what had happened on our Dec/Jan trip six months earlier, I knew to go to the luggage carousel and check for my suitcase.

Guess what? It wasn't there.

Was it in cold storage like December??

Nope. After I scanned my baggage claim ticket it just said On Pier in Atlanta. Well what in the world does that mean? Do I go ahead and figure out where I"m spending the night and trust that Delta will get my bags where they need to go?

Of course not. I have zero trust in anything at this point. So I join this verrrryyy long line at the Baggage Services department, with people in the same boat that I am. Solidarity. Or something.

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While this is happening, I'm also half texting half calling DH (we were both trying to figure out my flight the next day) and trying to remain calm and not give in to my desire to be SUPER pissed off - I wasn't succeeding at that, to be honest. Eventually it was my turn to talk to the baggage services people, who assured me that my bag would be on the flight tomorrow night. By then, I had been rebooked on an early morning flight leaving around 8:00am, so I made sure that had all been updated, and when I finally decided that I needed to forget my stupid suitcase and just worry about it later, I went to talk to a Delta rep to see about a hotel voucher.

Because so many flights were delayed, cancelled, or rerouted due to weather, there were none left. DH booked a hotel room online for me, and I went to catch the shuttle.

Once the shuttle came, I bid a blurry farewell to the Atlanta airport, which is no longer my favorite.

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DH had booked the hotel that looked the best from reviews out of the ones left with availability. It was slim pickin', as we say down here in my neck of the woods. Anything would be better than sleeping in the airport, right??

I think it was the Ramada Plaza by the airport. When the shuttle pulled up to drop us off (I got to sit in the front with the driver b/c it was a packed bus), I was helped out of the van by a guy who looked like 50 Cent, and wearing a flak vest that said security on it. Nothing screams "you're safe here", like a bullet proof vest on a hotel security guy amiright??

Nothing to worry about

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Anyway, I went to the desk and got checked in and took the elevator up to my sketchy room

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The bed was actually super comfy. Too bad I was only in it for three hours.

I didn't really sleep, and around 345ish couldn't handle it anymore and took a shower. I got a fun surprise when I tried to dry my hair, and sparks shot out of it, the coils turned bright red, and it quit working.

Ok, ok, I can handle this!! I am a survivor!!

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I throw my hair in a braid, say screw it, gather up my stuff and head downstairs. I join the people waiting for the shuttle and when it pulls up I get on. A family starts screaming at me and the two other people in my row about how they are a group of nine and they need to be together and we have to get off. Me and the people in my row are like, "cool, but we also need to get to the airport", but they were throwing such a fit I, in a moment i'm not proud of, screamed "FINE!" and got off the shuttle. The other people in my row (an older husband and wife) stayed and refused to get off (good for them!), but I had time and didn't want to deal with that so early in the morning.

There was another family behind me who missed getting on and the dad was freaking out and yelling at his kid for being slow and making them miss it, and they were scheduled to leave at 6am - they barely had an hour before their flight. English wasn't their first language, and they were very upset. I told the wife that I would get an UberXL and they could come with me, and after that the dad calmed down.

Well, the next shuttle came about 30 seconds before the Uber I'd called, and they decided to take the shuttle. So I asked the others around me if anyone wanted to come along with me, and three people said yes and hopped in the backseat while I rode in front with my uber driver. She was SOOOOO nice, and pretty much the only good thing about being in Atlanta.

The people who rode with me were also super nice too, and grateful, and one woman threw in some extra cash for a tip, since I was paying for the ride.

To spread the good karma, my driver's name was Falicia, and she has been without an apartment for several months and is hoping to get back into one in July, so if you're the praying type, or just want to send some good juju her way out into the universe, please do!!

She dropped my hotel buddies off on their side of the airport, then ended the ride so I wouldn't have to pay extra for her to drive over to the side of the airport I needed. Truly a gem, that Falicia, and I only wish the best for her in the future. The whole group of us talked all the way to the airport, and I just feel like she was a genuinely kind person who deserves to have something good happen in her life.

ANYWAY...(again!)...

I got to the airport and waited in a 40 minute security line, checked my departure gate, and then decided to just leisurely grab some coffee and make my way over there. Once I got there, I looked up and noticed the gate where I was supposed to be said Orange County. California is my favorite place, but not at that moment in time!! I checked the app again and my gate had changed some time during my slothlike mosey, and I had to walk alllllll the way back to the front of my concourse (because of course the gate was at the end), get back on the plane train, and to my new concourse.

When I finally got settled I checked on my bag:

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Well, at least one of us made it to Orlando the night before :sad2: I'm glad my suitcase was able to get on a flight even though I wasn't. Honestly, I was just glad to know it was safe.

Here I am, tired, exhausted, and OVER this travel experience:

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You only get the best of me, guys!!! The truth of travel is ugly sometimes!

The gate agent for this flight was awesome, and super upbeat and cheerful. Basically everything that had been missing from my life for the past 18 hours or so, and the rest of the airport experience was good.

I was never, ever so happy to be off the ground

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In a bit of extra luck, no one sat in the middle seat :dogdance:

I landed, took the fake-o-rail, went to the baggage claim office, and was immediately reunited with my precious purple suitcase.

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Magical Express bound!!

There wasn't much wait, or many people in line in front of me, and soon I was on the bus and heading to the Yacht Club

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Whew, what a ride!! I'm always glad to get a travel post finished up, and this one felt like it lasted an eternity. I was so happy to finally be on my way to the resort and to get my trip started.

I don't think I'll get any new chapters up over the weekend, but will be trying to churn this report out pretty quickly.

Thanks for sticking with me through this post, I promise it gets better as we go along!

Have a great weekend, and I'll see ya real soon!!
 
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Hi @xlsm! :wave: I'm here! Looking forward to hearing about your trip! Though I'm not sure I'm looking forward to your first travel day post...what a nightmare it must have been! :scared1:

Yay, yay, yay!! I'm so happy you're here!! Ugh, the travel day(s). I mean, I guess I feel prepared to handle any situation now, but I think I could have happily lived my whole life not dealing with this again, LOL

Following along! Can't wait to hear about your trip!

Welcome back for another trip with me!! It was a fun one, I'm excited to share it!

Following along!

Hello again!! I'm glad you're here!
 
Wow! What a fiasco! I'm glad you finally made it to Orlando. I can't wait to hear about the rest of the trip!
 
What a nightmare! I had a similar travel experience trying to return home from Philadelphia - my initial flight was fine, but my final flight was cancelled TEN MINUTES BEFORE WE WERE SUPPOSED TO BOARD. Seriously, it was fine when I got up to use the bathroom before the flight and was cancelled by the time I came back to the gate. After calling the airline while standing in line, I rebooked myself to a different airport the next morning. A few hours of sleep at the hotel later, I got a cancellation on my rebooked flight, rebooked myself AGAIN, and finally made it on both flights. Just a 3.5 hour drive later with a last-minute car rental and I was home! :faint: (With no suitcase. It was shipped to my original local airport. I got to drive there the next day to get it. >:( )

I FEEL YOUR PAIN. (Although I think you win as you were on your way TO Disney World, while I was just on my way home from a work trip.)

Thank goodness you finally arrived... and with your suitcase! Now the fun can begin!
 
Woohoo!! :dogdance: :dogdance:
I feel like I stayed away long enough, and if I didn't start now, I might not ever. We had too much fun to not share it with the world, LOL!! Even if the world is not ready for our brand of fun :rotfl::rotfl:

Lol get ready world a Brown Derby margarita flight of fun is coming! :dogdance:

I loved Forky (thank goodness, I went all in on the Forky love pre-movie!)

I just heard today that Forky is voiced by Tony Hale so now I love Forky even more.


It's creepy :rotfl:

I was helped out of the van by a guy who looked like 50 Cent, and wearing a flak vest that said security on it. Nothing screams "you're safe here", like a bullet proof vest on a hotel security guy amiright??

Maybe he was trying to say he's going to party like it's your birthday with his look? :laughing:
 
This is probably the most "me" photo I've ever taken. No no filter or makeup except for some stray eye liner...this just proves that lighting is EVERYTHING. It's probably my favorite picture of me, even though I look tired.
It is a gorgeous picture!
Favorite Park: Animal Kingdom (but MK is the park I want to visit most often - it's home!)

Favorite Character: To meet - Chip and Dale!! In general?? Yeah, no way to narrow that down at all, sorry!
Same and same!
Favorite Resort: Wilderness Lodge (runners up are Polynesian and Animal Kingdom Lodge - for future family trips, I've given in to the fact that the Poly will probably be the go to from now on)
I love AKL and am so looking forward to experiencing CCV at WL in 2 weeks!
Favorite Table Service: Probably Skipper's Canteen?? Or Sci Fi (for the atmosphere) We try not to repeat much, but those are frequently visited spots
Love both too!
Last night we all went to see Toy Story 4, and all of us really enjoyed it. I loved Forky (thank goodness, I went all in on the Forky love pre-movie!) and Bunny/Ducky (OMG, they were hilarious). I think it feels like a standalone movie from the previous three, and that's ok!! It was thoroughly entertaining.
I can't wait to see this, we are going Sunday afternoon. :)
When we landed I was so excited to see what gate our plane had stopped in - there was a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf right across from it. I was all hyped about that, b/c it's my favorite, and I only get it in California or at the Atlanta airport. I had an hour and a half before my next flight would board, so I was over my worry and was feeling pretty happy.
The one good thing about your whole experience.....
So, after what had happened on our Dec/Jan trip six months earlier, I knew to go to the luggage carousel and check for my suitcase.

Guess what? It wasn't there.
Ugh!
so I made sure that had all been updated, and when I finally decided that I needed to forget my stupid suitcase and just worry about it later, I went to talk to a Delta rep to see about a hotel voucher.

Because so many flights were delayed, cancelled, or rerouted due to weather, there were none left. DH booked a hotel room online for me, and I went to catch the shuttle.
Delta is deliberately unhelpful imho (spoiler alert for the end of my TR)
ell, the next shuttle came about 30 seconds before the Uber I'd called, and they decided to take the shuttle. So I asked the others around me if anyone wanted to come along with me, and three people said yes and hopped in the backseat while I rode in front with my uber driver. She was SOOOOO nice, and pretty much the only good thing about being in Atlanta.

The people who rode with me were also super nice too, and grateful, and one woman threw in some extra cash for a tip, since I was paying for the ride.

To spread the good karma, my driver's name was Falicia, and she has been without an apartment for several months and is hoping to get back into one in July, so if you're the praying type, or just want to send some good juju her way out into the universe, please do!!

She dropped my hotel buddies off on their side of the airport, then ended the ride so I wouldn't have to pay extra for her to drive over to the side of the airport I needed. Truly a gem, that Falicia, and I only wish the best for her in the future. The whole group of us talked all the way to the airport, and I just feel like she was a genuinely kind person who deserves to have something good happen in her life.
Nothing better than meeting someone special who just turns everything around.
You only get the best of me, guys!!! The truth of travel is ugly sometimes!

The gate agent for this flight was awesome, and super upbeat and cheerful. Basically everything that had been missing from my life for the past 18 hours or so, and the rest of the airport experience was good.

I was never, ever so happy to be off the ground
Yay! Now you are on your way!
 
Following!

BUT, first things first, I had to just chill out with one of my dogs for awhile. She knew something was up, and was giving me sad face

They always know.

I immediately checked my Delta app to see what flight I'd been rebooked on, and it was one set to leave at 7:38PM the NEXT NIGHT.

Double, EXTRA nooooooooo!!!!

No!!!!


Because so many flights were delayed, cancelled, or rerouted due to weather, there were none left.

What exactly was going on with the weather that was causing all the delays? I was in WDW on the 8th and don't remember anything too terrible going on.

I got a fun surprise when I tried to dry my hair, and sparks shot out of it, the coils turned bright red, and it quit working.

Holy smokes! That's scary!


Sounds like an awful travel experience but at least you got to WDW!
 
Great start! I had a similar nightmare earlier this year on my way to Disneyland.
It was awful! I mean seriously, how many times did you just want to cry being stuck like that?
Love your backpack, and looking forward to the rest of your trip.
 
Joining in!

So sorry about your arrival day travel issues. I'm sure you must have been very relieved when you arrived safely and you were reunited with your suitcase.

That Atlanta airport! When you were writing about the hotel you stayed at, I was remembering a long ago trip report, where the couple was stuck in Atlanta for two days due to ice, and when reading reviews about the place they were going to be staying, it talked about blood on the walls. I think they decided to stick around the airport!

Looking forward to more!

::yes::
 

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